


What Kind of Avatar Bender Am I?

by FantasyAmicus



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Before the Hundred Year War, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Canon, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-05-21 11:12:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14914307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasyAmicus/pseuds/FantasyAmicus
Summary: Goodness, now you have a quiz to tell you what kind of bender you would be based off of your personality? In my day, we had to figure it out on our own. Of course, it was usually very easy: if you bent a certain element, you were that kind of bender. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy for me, and by the time I stopped writing off everything I caused as coincidence the world was on the brink of war. And I wanted to make sure I had my bending under control before I was caught in the middle of an inter-element war.





	1. Prologue

“Why does this room look like an air temple?” A little boy asked as he carried the latest round of cabbages into the kitchen.

 

“Don’t dally, give them here now.” A woman with hair as gray as a storm gathered the boy’s cabbages in her arms and examined them. “I wish I could grow these in Omashu, but I suppose I should be glad our garden is close enough for you to get them to me before they wilt.” She smiled at the boy before she put the cabbages on the kitchen counter and began cutting them up.

 

“You didn’ answer me.” The boy crossed his arms and repeated the question.

 

“And just how do you know what the air temple looks like? It was destroyed by firebenders long before you were born.”

 

“We were shown a paintin’ of ’em in class.” The boy retorted as he watched her meticulous hands. “But it’s not just the kitchen, Granma. Your work room is all blue and decorated like it’s in the arctic – which Mom told me was like the Water Tribe. An’ your bedroom,” the boy looked around to make sure nobody was listening. “Your bedroom is all red an’ orange, which I know is like the Fire Nation!” The boy looked at his grandmother with accusing eyes. “If you’re loyal to the Earth Kingdom, why would your rooms look like the other kingdoms?”

 

The old woman wiped her hands off and looked at her grandson. He would be turning eight soon, but she would have thought it wouldn’t be her variety of décor that caused him to ask about her past. She figured he would have said something when he saw her working, or when his favorite cousin had to move so he could better master his bending, or how about every day when he saw her wearing the yellow and orange garb of air nomads.

 

“To answer that, I would have to tell you a bit of a long story.” She continued cutting the cabbages while her grandson pulled up a chair so he could sit and listen better.

 

“I can wait. I need make sure you’re not a Fire Nation spy.”

 

She arched her eyebrow. She, of all people, had the most reason to want the Fire Nation to be put back in its place. But, of course, she would have to go through her story for her grandson to know that. So, taking in a deep breath, she began.

 

“I was born near the southern air temple to two airbenders. I happened to be the rarity of a child born to air nomads who was not an airbender, but since my mother was such a prodigious nun in the eastern air temple, I was allowed to stay there and help breed the air bison…”

 

**\----**

**Author's Note: Hello, and thank you for reading the introduction to my new story! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Just so you are aware, the first half of this story focuses on the different kinds of bending, and the second half of the story focuses on the beginning of the Hundred Years' War from the perspective of my main character. I personally do not prefer having two different feels to one story, but hopefully the ongoing story will keep you intrigued.**

**Please leave a review; I would appreciate any feedback you would provide!**


	2. 2 Years before the Air Nomad Genocide

“Oh yes, we’re very proud of Aang. He’s on his way of being the youngest airbending master in history. Another year or so and we believe he’ll get his tattoos.” Jynia heard her aunt’s voice as she brushed the pregnant air bison. Aang was her cousin (the son of her mother’s sister), an airbending prodigy who Jynia had heard was destined to be the avatar.

 

“He very much enjoys his master, Monk Gyasto. Some of the monks have told me his precision is amazing.”

 

“That’s wonderful. I thought some of the monks were getting annoyed by Aang’s frivolity. It’s good to hear them compliment him for a change.”

 

“Well, they didn’t use those words exactly. It was more phrased in a complaining way, something about being hit with fruit pies.” The two women laughed. “But how is your daughter, Jynia?”

 

Jynia finished brushing the air bison’s tail and wiped her forehead clean of sweat. She looked at the floor, which was now covered in a thick layer of air bison hair, before picking up a boom and beginning to sweep the stable.

 

“Oh, she is no airbender, but she has been very helpful to us in caring for the air bison.”

 

Her mother’s voice stung a little bit. Jynia knew she was a bender, but she was approaching her twentieth birthday and no bending had made itself clear yet. Every time it seemed as though she had controlled an element there was always another possible explanation, from another bender performing the action to her own clumsiness making it appear like controlling an element. Still, every time she meditated with the air nomads, she could feel the power of bending inside her waiting to be trained.

 

“We’re about to have a new litter of air bison to begin training for the young airbenders. I’ve had Jynia care for the mother until she gives birth. It could be any day now.”

 

The bison rolled on her side, scattering the fur Jynia had managed to sweep into a pile. “Nana!” She glared at the bison before an idea came to her. Glancing about, she tossed aside the broom and took a deep breath. She raised her right arm to make a measured circle around her face before her left arm darted out from her chest in a horizontal circle. At the movement of Jynia’s left hand the fur on the floor was swept up by the wind and gathered into a large pile.

 

“I did it! I did it! I –” Jynia’s celebratory dance was cut off when she turned around and saw her aunt and mother standing in the doorway, her mother in the same position Jynia had been in when the airbending happened. She scrambled into a respectful bow. “Hello Mother, Aunt Arni. Thank you for helping me with my chore.”

 

The sister nuns looked almost identical; both had long dark hair behind bare foreheads with the blue arrow of airbending tattoos extending from their heads to their arms. To make up for the dull coloring of their air nomad clothes and graying hair, both of their eyes were the warmest brown. The main difference between them was the fact that Jynia’s mother had a few more wrinkles lining her face, a combination of having a few extra years on Arni and having to help Jynia navigate a temple intended for airbenders.

 

“Oh, Jynia. You are not an airbender, so why do you keep trying?” There was a slight smile in her mother’s eyes, but also a hint of genuine confusion.

 

Jynia shuffled and didn’t answer. “It is Aang’s tenth birthday soon, correct? Might I be allowed to bake him a pie and visit him?”

 

“Of course you may, assuming his master agrees to it. You are planning on taking him on a field trip, are you not?”

 

A slight mischievous grin played at the corners of Jynia’s mouth. “That is my duty as his cousin. I thought he could bear to play with the otter penguins.”

 

“Yes, I suppose it would be good for his character to endure that.” Sister Arni smiled while Jynia’s mother went to examine the air bison.

 

“It looks like Nana will have a new litter for us soon. I will make sure to alert the Southern Air Temple on Aang’s birthday so you may come with me. You would be allowed to use Ino as you need, but I want her back before sunset.” Ino was Jynia’s mother’s air bison, since Jynia was not an airbender she relied on others for transport. “And if you’re going near the Southern Water Tribe, you may want to stay there, send Ino back to the temple with Aang.”

 

Jynia’s mouth gaped in shock. Was her mother – trying to get rid of her? She knew she wasn’t as useful as an airbending child, but she had done all she could to be a valid member of the community! And here her mother was suggesting she disappear to the Water Tribe? “Bu-but, I –”

 

“If you believe you are a bender you should try to train with the other benders. It has been clear since you were an infant that you would never be an airbender, so we can rule that element off the list, but you still need to find out for yourself if you are a waterbender, an earthbender, or a firebender.”

 

“There is no shame in being a nonbender.” Sister Arni inputted. “She could continue to live with us.”

 

“But if she truly feels that she is a bender, it is a journey that she must take.”

 

The realization of what this meant for her came slowly, but by the time she fully understood what her mother was saying, Jynia had thrown her arms around her mother in the tightest embrace. It was quickly broken, however, by a low moan from the air bison.

 

“You may be planning to leave us soon,” Jynia’s mother said as she hurried to Nana. “But we still have one more bison delivery to get out of you.”

 

~~~~~~

 

Aang came back to his room looking exhausted from training. “I’ll be there in a minute, guys!” He called over his shoulder to the other airbending children, his face lightening at the thought.

 

“Hello, prodigy.”

 

Aang jumped so high his head hit the ceiling while Jynia nearly fell off the window ledge from laughing. “Why do you keep doing that?” He asked, rubbing his bald head.

 

“It’s one of the few joys of being surrounded by airbenders.” She scooched down and handed him a hand-made egg custard tart. “Happy Birthday!”

 

As soon as the treat was in the open, a winged lemur hopped in and leaped for the dessert. Jynia caught him around the middle and pulled him back to rest on her shoulder. “No, Peelo, that’s for – no.” She repeated again more firmly as the lemur made for the tart and she caught him. This time she kept him in her grasp and let her arm fall to her side, Peelo going limp in disappointment.

 

“He can have some if he wants.” Aang said kindly.

 

“He’s the reason you’re eating egg custard tart the second.”

 

“Peelo, did you eat my birthday present?” Aang teased as he scratched the lemur behind the ears.

 

“Not exactly,” Jynia pursed her lips. “The first one got burned when I was chasing him around the kitchen. I turned around, and _fire_.” She made a dramatic motion with her lemur-less hand as Aang sat on his bed and started eating the pie.

 

“Well,” Aang said between bites. “Maybe this means you’re a firebender.”

 

Jynia smiled. Aang was one of the few people who took her belief of being a bender as fact, though even he couldn’t deny that she wasn’t an airbender. The rarity and the prodigy, what did their family ever do to have such, well, _unique_ children? She affectionately ruffled his collar. “Maybe.”

 

Aang finished the small tart, set the plate aside, and used his airbending to stand. “Hey, a bunch of us are going to play airball, wanna play with us?”

 

Jynia let the lemur leap from her grip to lick the empty plate and turned to walk out the door, shrugging. “I suppose you could go destroy me at airball, if _that’s_ what you really want to do on your birthday. Monk Gyasto _did_ give me permission to take you on a field trip, but –”

 

“Did you have another idea?”

 

Jynia grinned at her cousin over her shoulder. “Have you ever ridden a penguin?”

 

That was all she needed to say to get Aang to forget his game of airball and come with her on her mother’s air bison. He was so excited that he didn’t complain about the long journey, meanwhile, Jynia’s stomach was training for the circus. Soon she would be in the South Pole and would be learning waterbending, and maybe become a waterbender. As the Southern Water Tribe capital, Harbor City, came into view she took a calming breath and had Ino land.

 

“Remember prodigy, we can’t stay long,” Jynia said as she gathered all her bags and climbed off the air bison. “Mother wants her air bison back before sunset.” Peelo hopped onto her shoulder as she knocked on the front gates, hoping the Water Tribe would be willing to take her in.

 

“Why couldn’t we have just taken Appa?”

 

“I wanted to make sure you got back safely, and Ino knows the way better than Appa.”

 

“Why would that matter? Won’t you be steering on the way back?”

 

Before Jynia could answer, the tannest man she had ever seen opened the door. “Um, hello sir.” She bowed respectfully and reached in her pocket for the note her mother sent with her. “My mother sent me with this, she believes it will explain everything.”

 

The man took it and scanned the words with his deep blue eyes. When he looked up he smiled. “We will see if we can find some accommodations for you. In the meantime, do come in. Let me take your bags.”

 

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to spend some time with my cousin first. Thank you, sir.”

 

She turned around as the man took her bags inside the city and started leading Aang away. “Now I hope you took notice of his clothing – Water Tribe. If you ever see someone from the Water Tribe, the first thing you do is ask them to take you penguin sledding.”

 

“Right, ask them to go penguin sledding, got it. But Jynia, what was with the note?”

 

Jynia hesitated, unsure of how to break the news to him. “I’m, uh not, um, well – I’m not going back with you. I’m staying here, to learn waterbending and see if I’m that kind of bender. Air’s obviously not my element, so my mother and I figured I could try water. You know, because –” She was about to turn and gauge his reaction, when Peelo squeaked and scrambled from his perch down her back to hide from a black and white animal, about half Jynia’s height, with four flippers. Instantly, everything was forgotten as the cousins screamed in unison. “PENGUIN!”


	3. Trial 1: Water

_“Granma, there’s no way you are related to the Avatar. All the air nomads are dead.”_

_Jynia held up her finger. “No, all the_ airbenders _were stomped out by the firebenders. An airbender is someone who can bend air, an air_ nomad _is a person born to air nomads. I was one of the few – and I mean very few as in once-in-a-century few – children born to air nomads who was not an airbender.”_

_The boy frowned a little, but eventually shrugged it off. “So you got your bending at the Southern Water Tribe?”_

_“Oh dear gracious no, I wish it had been that easy. I stayed with the Southern Water Tribe for a few months, but I was often too scared of failing like I had in the air temples to truly attempt waterbending…”_

 

Jynia sat in the back as two of the waterbending children practiced sparring. The young girl deflected an attack with a wall of water, which she sent hurtling at her opponent with a wave of her arms. The boy on the other side formed an ice spike on his arm to cut through the wall and, with a flowing circular motion, pushed the snow from under the girl’s feet away, making her fall on her hands. Using his momentary advantage the boy brought the snow to rise around her arms and freeze into ice, rendering her arms immobile and unable to waterbend.

 

“Excellent work, Baka.” Master Hua removed the ice holding the girl and the two children took their seats. “I hope everyone took note of the resourcefulness. Wonderful job, both of you.”

 

The resourcefulness and use of adapted techniques wasn’t something that surprised Jynia. What she took note of were the fluid motions, as if the bender was mimicking the water. It was also interesting to watch waterbenders create an offense from their defense; the air temples didn’t use sparring as part of their training.

 

“Would anyone else like to go?” Nobody spoke. “Jynia, how about you?”

 

Jynia furiously shook her head. “No, I haven’t waterbent so much as a puddle – and I would never intentionally harm someone.”

 

“Come now, I’ll go easy on you. You’ve been observing us for a month and a half, it’s about time you tried it yourself.” He smiled a little. “It’s not like you could actually do me much harm.” There was a small ripple of laughter among the class.

 

“I’d be just as content to watch.”

 

“You are not in the air temple anymore, Jynia.” Master Hua said in his soft but stern voice. “You’re going to have to defend yourself sometime.”

 

Jynia got to her feet and brushed the snow off of her warm, orange and brown dress. One of the Water Tribe seamstresses had gone to some lengths to include air nomad colors when making a wardrobe for Jynia. It was nice to have a little bit of home about her appearance, since she had taken to braiding her hair into a bun in the Water Tribe style.

 

She stepped forward and stood awkwardly. Master Hua’s gray eyes bored at her, waiting for her to do something, but then with a fluid rising of his arms sent a small wave a water at her.

 

Jynia squeaked and side-stepped it. A jet of water reached out towards her and she ducked to avoid it. A multitude of snow rose above her, turned to ice spikes, and shot towards her. She raised her arm to protect her face and knocked as many as she could away as she ran away from them.

 

“You are employing the airbending technique of avoidance. At least try to fight back!” A floor of ice shot towards Jynia’s feet, but she jumped over it to land on the now icy ground, and promptly fell on her stomach.

 

“I wonder why that would be,” Jynia said as she scrambled to her feet again, slipping all the way. Her fall had awoken the only defense she had: wit. “Shall I just summon my mystical as-of-yet unknown powers to properly spar you?”

 

“Dad, what are you expecting her to do?”

 

“Jynia, I know you can do this,” Master Hua looked intensely into her eyes. “Redirect my attacks. The point is not harming me, it’s taking away my control.” A jet of water caused Jynia to fall on her back.

 

It seemed to happen in slow motion. The air went out of her lungs and she couldn’t breathe for a moment. She opened her eyes and saw a water whip reaching out above her. Her leg swung up and cut off some of the whip from Master Hua’s direct control. The water fell down on Jynia as she stood and took a fighting stance.

 

Another water whip. This time Jynia dodged and cut it off with her arm. A giant wave of water. She solidified her stance, shielded her face with her forearms, and let her body cut through the water. A series of ice spears shot at her. She sidestepped some, caught one, and swung it around in front of her face to divert the others, taking steps closer to Master Hua. When she was close enough, a spike of ice solidified around his arm and jabbed at her. She used her ice spear to chop off the spike and make him lose his balance. Instantly both turned to water again and fell to the ground.

 

“Excellent, Jynia. Your use of diversion and having me lose direct contact with my weapon is perfect demonstration of waterbending techniques, without any waterbending. Of course, it wouldn’t have done as much if I were actually trying, but the ideas were still there. Class dismissed.”

 

As everyone trickled out, a young woman with the gray eyes of Master Hua and the darkest brown skin of the group ran forward to examine Jynia. “Are you hurt? Do you feel any pain anywhere? Oh, why would Dad do this?”

 

Jynia grabbed Mukana’s hands, which had been gently inspecting her arms. “I’m fine, Mukana, your father went very easy on me. He was just trying to train me – unconventionally, but what else can you do when I haven’t bent water? I mean, I didn’t _enjoy_ it, but I understand.”

 

“He could have at least had one of us bend the water for you.”

 

“What? And telepathically figure out which abilities I want to use?”

 

Mukana didn’t answer, but frowned and started walking on Harbor City’s streets away from the school building with Jynia following her. She could tell her friend was still frustrated but didn’t have a proper argument to keep speaking.

 

“Let me see your hands.”

 

“What?”

 

“Let me see your hands.”

 

Almost reluctantly, Mukana held her open palms out for Jynia to see. There were several crescent-shaped imprints and the basic outline of a circle with a wave on it – imprints of her nails and necklace from squeezing her engagement pendant too long, something she only did when she was restraining herself from waterbending. “Mukana…”

 

“He knocked you down twice, Jynia! I have a right to be worried about you.” Mukana suddenly softened and spoke quietly. “So, why haven’t you waterbent?”

 

Jynia bit her lip and shrugged. She almost stumbled when Peelo jumped onto her shoulder as the two women passed where some of the small children were playing with him.

 

“I’ve seen you practice, you know.” Mukana continued, stroking Peelo’s ears. Jynia shouldn’t have been surprised; she had been living with Master Hua and his family, one of them was bound to watch her practicing the movements. “You’re rather good –”

 

“Try telling the water that,” Jynia mumbled.

 

“I just don’t think you’re really reaching out with your chi. Using your chi to waterbend is so natural, I thought it would come out of you when you were fighting.” She looked down at the ground. “Dad probably did too.”

 

“Can you forgive him now?”

 

“I’m still taking you to the healers.”

 

“Fine, whatever you want. As long as it’s not ice dodging. Or personal waterbending training.”

 

 “Okay, I admit personal waterbending training was a disaster.” Mukana had taken Jynia out to the shore during the full moon to practice waterbending, but just when it looked like she was waterbending a tiger seal came out of the water and briefly chased them. “And you can’t still be mad at me for making you an honorary member of the Southern Water Tribe.” Jynia was taken on the traditional rite of passage with Mukana’s cousin where they had to steer the ship through icebergs and earned the Mark of the Trusted for basically doing what the boy suggested. Jynia was suddenly brought out of her reminisces when she bumped into Mukana, who had unexpectedly stopped.

 

“Vako!” Mukana ran up to a young man with broad shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.

 

Vako pulled his fiancée into a strong side hug and his blue eyes danced upon seeing her. “Hey, Mukana. How was training?” He flicked the hair loop she styled across her forehead and she responded by jumping to flick the floppy ponytail on top of his head. Jynia smiled and rolled her eyes while Peelo leaped from her shoulder to Mukana’s head to Vako’s head and batted at his ponytail. “And hello to you too, Peelo.” Vako brought Peelo down from his head and stoked the lemur as it perched on his arm. “By the way, Jynia, the annual trip to the Earth Kingdom city Omashu is in a little over a month. You mentioned wanting to train with earthbenders, this may be a good time to get you there.”

 

“Really? That would be perfect!” Since no waterbending powers had come to Jynia, she wasn’t going to hesitate when the opportunity to learn earthbending came to her.

 

Mukana continued to drag Jynia to the healers, who had her roll up her sleeves to submerge her arms into water (once they had Mukana secure Peelo, who had decided the healing water was the perfect place to splash). Jynia finally noticed the numerous scratches up and down her hands and arms, but before one of the healers could touch her skin, Jynia’s arms glowed. When she pulled them out, the scratches were completely gone.

 

“Hm,” the healer said, examining Jynia’s arm. She called over the head healer, who also examined Jynia’s arm curiously.

 

“What?”

 

“Your chi, it seems to be – I’ve never seen anything like this before – it’s dormant.” The head healer let go of her arm and met Jynia’s eyes. “It’s as if your chi has shut itself down for years.”

 

Jynia bit the inside of her lip. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with a non-airbender trying to bend air for a little under twenty years, would it?”

 

“I would say that’s exactly the cause of it.” The healer smiled at her sympathetically. “No offense to your people, but my guess is since their spirituality is very centralized on airbending, it ruined you from properly coming into your bending. Don’t worry, it seems to be awakening – slowly. I estimate by this time next year you will be a bender.”

 

Mukana beamed at Jynia. “Looks like you picked the perfect time to train with all the different benders.”


	4. Trial 2: Earth

_“So you just left again? What about your friends?”_

_“I still kept in touch with them. Vako and Mukana both decided to let me have Mukana’s engagement necklace, Vako made another one for their wedding.” Jynia pulled the necklace from beneath her shirt collar for the boy to see._

_“What did you do in Omashu?”_

_“I watched the men train for combat since one of the soldiers had taken me as an earthbending pupil. The female earthbenders were being trained to work in the infirmary, but we still got to enjoy meals together…”_

 

Peelo grabbed the last of the fruit and scurried down the table, stuffing small handfuls of food from people’s plates in his mouth all the way. There was a frustrated shout, a loud stomping noise, and then a rock was suddenly flying at the winged lemur. Peelo easily ducked and kept going, but soon resorted to holding the fruit between his feet and flying as a series of rocks and pebbles began launching themselves at him as the table suddenly became pandemonium. He dodged as many as he could and landed on Jynia’s shoulder to eat it. The rocks started to follow him but then froze dangerously close to Jynia’s face. Jynia pursed her lips, unsure of what sort of facial expression would change their decision to earthbend a rock at her head.

 

There was a moment of charged silence until the first person Peelo stole food from spoke. “You know what you little – dyaaaa!” All of the rocks near Jynia fell to the ground as everyone turned to the speaker, one of the female earthbenders named Mipha. She was doubled over, with tears in her eyes from forced laughter. “Stop it – oh gosh, please! No! I’m begging you – please, stop.” Suddenly she stopped laughing and gasped for breath. She pushed the tears out of her eyes and glared on the man sitting next to Jynia. “And just what was that for?”

 

Shua’s soft green eyes glanced up from his meal as if he had just noticed there was a disturbance at the table. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

 

“Oh don’t play innocent with me! Only you are advanced enough to do that!” Her short brown hair whipped around her shoulders as she turned to answer everyone’s unspoken question. “He earthbent a cave around my feet and had the ground tickle the bottoms of them!”

 

Jynia snorted and glanced at Shua, who winked at her so quickly she might have missed it.

 

Peelo made a satisfied noise as he ate the fruit and paused to look up at the army. The soldier across from Jynia hunched over as he sulked at the lemur. “He’s mocking us,” he complained.

 

Peelo cocked his head and made an inquisitive whir, and (without breaking eye contact) took another bite from the fruit. Now one of the infirmary workers whined “Shu- _aaa_ , can we please –”

 

“Complain all you want, _no one_ hurts the air nomad.” Shua continued eating as if he had just commented on the weather.

 

Jynia reached up and scratched Peelo under his ears, where he liked it best. “Alright, Peelo.” She jerked her head towards Mipha. Peelo blinked, then flew over to curl up on Mipha’s shoulder, who glared at him all the while.

 

“I still hate you,” she said, reaching up to stroke his head. Peelo released an affectionate burble and the nurse visibly softened.

 

Jynia straightened her tunic. She had started wearing a leaf green Earth Kingdom tunic over top of her air nomad clothes as a way to blend in without losing connections to her home. However, she did walk about barefoot like all the earthbenders did in hopes it would help her earthbend.

 

“Alright men, back to training. I want to send a group of you to the occupied Earth Kingdom cities by the end of the month.”

 

She stood as the men finished any last bites they could get in before training restarted. Jynia had been observing them train for over four months now and she sensed a growing urgency towards combat, with the Fire Nation starting to colonize parts of the Earth Kingdom. Growing up in the air temple where there was no army, it was strange to hear talk of a potential war around Omashu.

 

“Here’s your bat, monkey, cat, thing.” Mipha said, disturbing Peelo from his rest and holding him out to Jynia.

 

“Winged lemur.”

 

“I still hate him,” she said, a small smile dancing around the corners of her mouth. “But dinner tonight is at my house. If you aren’t there I’m accusing Shua’s fiancé of kidnapping.”

 

“At least they don’t threaten to bend rocks at my head.” Jynia retorted. Every few days one of the soldiers or nurses hosted dinner for everyone training to defend the Fire Nation colonies. She only went if Shua’s fiancée Lumin (whom she as staying with) was going, afraid of getting lost in the dense city of Omashu.

 

“Soldiers, look alive!”

 

“See you tonight.” Mipha winked and hurried off while Jynia tried to keep up with the earthbending soldiers returning to their training.

 

Earthbending training was much more intense and much tougher than waterbending training, but that was also because they were specifically learning combat, not just generic earthbending. There were a lot of physical challenges (which Jynia usually didn’t care to observe closely), some directions on movements, but also a bit of sparring with the instructor to practice fighting. The fights were always interesting since – unlike waterbending, which involved more reacting and redirection – earthbending was more calculating, with watching one’s opponent and striking decisively. Shua’s battles with his captain were almost humorous to watch at first because neither wanted to strike first. They waited, occasionally with some banter thrown in.

 

“I started the fight last time, I believe it’s your turn to make the first move.” Shua had a ready standpoint, eyeing his captain carefully.

 

“Is that really what you will say to a Firebender in one of the Earth Kingdom cities?” The captain appeared almost nonchalant with his hands behind his back, but Jynia had spent enough time studying earthbending to recognize his solidified stance.

 

“Any members of the Fire Nation I meet won’t be _able_ to fight me twice.”

 

The other soldiers cheered while Jynia bit her lip. She knew Shua was exaggerating, but she still didn’t like him joking about destroying human lives. Shua must have remembered this, because then he turned away from his instructor to look directly at her.

 

“Hey, I didn’t mean it that way, I –” He cut off and ducked as a giant rock flew at his back. He whipped around and pivoted his heel. The ground under the captain shifted suddenly to throw him off-balance (which Jynia thought he should get more points for, since the captain had a stout muscular build that she doubted anything could truly move).

 

“That wouldn’t work against a Firebender; their bending involves a lot of agility.” The captain regained his balance and, with a solid stomp of his left leg, caused the ground underneath Shua to throw him in the air.

 

Shua fell on his back. Jynia dug her hands into the stone ground to keep from jumping up or screaming. But her worry was wasted, as Shua pounded the ground with his fist once and the earth he laid on raised up to help him back on his feet. He made two sharp swoops with his arms and rocky chains caged the captain’s arms and brought him to his knees.

 

“Good, but you can do better.” The captain grunted as he jerked his chin, crumbling his chains, and with one strong push, shot the debris at Shua.

 

Shua created a shield of rock and pushed his hand directly downwards. Instantly the ground under the captain seemed to melt and cause him to slip right through it. It solidified again when just his face was above the ground.

 

“Do you think _that_ will disable the Fire Nation soldiers?” Shua said with a slight pant behind his voice. In a moment, the captain was released and was smiling at his soldier.

 

“Excellent. I plan to have you lead the small regiment we send to regain our territory.”

 

Shua nodded to the captain and walked away along the streets of Omashu, nodding for Jynia to follow.

 

“Why would you turn your back on your opponent?” She asked as she caught up. “He almost knocked you out.”

 

“Seismic sense,” he replied. “After I became a master earthbender, I started to feel vibrations in the ground. Over time I connected it to what I saw happening around me, and learned to use it to see even things I’m not directly looking at.” He paused as Peelo saw a bug and began chasing it. “Some of the better earthbenders have it, but now with the focus on regaining Earth Kingdom’s land I think it will become forgotten. Now,” He stopped walking as they reached an open location with a good view of the mail system. “Are you ready to try earthbending again?”

 

Jynia nodded. “Wait, listen, then strike deliberately.” She steadied her stance and focused on the ground. She paused until she was ready, and then brought her hands up to her chest and shot her left fist directly outwards. Nothing happened.

 

She looked at Shua, who was frowning in disappointment, but then they heard a crashing noise. When the two turned, they saw a cloud of dust and heard a bunch of people running to a stop on the mail system. Trying not to panic about what she may have accidentally caused, Jynia ran after Shua to where they saw two mail carts totaled and mail system workers scrambling to collect the lost items and communicate with the rest of the system.

 

“Lumin!” Shua exclaimed, running towards his fiancée, a slender woman who was helping pick up the spilled metal pots.

 

“Everything’s fine, Shua, it was a natural accident, not even any bending involved. It seems there was a miscommunication in shifts and the earthbender that was supposed to be working here wasn’t. Oh, here comes the looter.” She giggled as Peelo swooped in to see if any food was spilled. Upon seeing it was a metal-containing cart and a coal-containing cart that crashed, he made a disappointed whine and returned to Jynia’s shoulder. “Nobody was hurt.”

 

“That’s too bad.” Shua said. Jynia looked at him in horror. “The natural part, not the injuries part!” He quickly explained. “Good that no one was hurt, bad that it wasn’t because of you. Your earthbending, your earthbending!” He added as Jynia still looked at him in frustration.

 

“Still no bending?” Lumin asked as she returned a handful of pots to its cart and helped the earthbending men, who were straining to lift more than one at a time. Jynia shook her head.

 

“I really hoped she would do it this time. Her motions show better understanding of earthbending than my collegues.”

 

“Zero for three.” Jynia shrugged, a hint of resentment in her voice. “I guess the air nomads were right – I am a nonbender.”

 

“No,” Shua stubbornly eyed Jynia. “I’m going to get you into the Fire Nation.”


	5. Trial 3: Fire

" _So you_ did _go to the fire nation!" The boy said accusingly._

" _Yes, but that proves nothing. Do you honestly think you are the first person to hear my past?" Jynia paused a moment, remembering that his father, her son-in-law, had recently gone to fight against the Fire Nation. "Your dad knew before he left. Now, are you going to listen or not?"_

_The boy closed his mouth tightly and watched as Jynia sighed and started to make his favorite; cabbage cookies. "There wasn't war at the time, only a handful of the Earth Kingdom cities even knew about the Fire Nation's colonization. Once the earthbending reinforcements arrived, Shua found me a nice young Fire Nation merchant to sneak me in…"_

The firebender scrambled to his feet and sent two fireballs at Shua and Jynia. Shua knocked them to the side with a rock wall and with a firm stomp shot earth pillars at the firebender sending him in the air again. He shot a burst of fire underneath him to quickly ease his fall and land (mostly) on his feet. Shua had managed to fight the man into a corner with no way out except through the earthbender. He spun his leg around to create a chest-high protective wall of fire and spread himself against the back of the wall.

"Okay, you've proven yourself to be a formidable earthbender. Aren't these efforts wasted on an average citizen?"

Shua raised a mound of dirt overtop of the fire, smothering it. The firebender held his hands up in a cautious stance, ready to surrender or defend himself. "I swear, I don't even live here! I'm leaving for the Capital City tomorrow!"

There was a brief pause as Shua lowered his arms. "That's all I wanted to hear." He turned around and grabbed Jynia, who had been standing safely behind him. She was wearing a red and brown ankle-length dress the Earth Kingdom soldiers had gotten for her and held a small bag with the few things she had acquired from each home, plus Peelo, whose head was sticking out the top. "You see this girl? You're going to get her into the Fire Nation and teach her firebending. Guard her like she were your own sister. Got it?"

The firebender gaped at her. "Is she a firebender?"

"Doesn't matter." Shua responded.

"My friend doesn't mean to be rude." Jynia said stepping forward. "He just wants to make sure I get to the Fire Nation safely."

"My friend doesn't mean to lie about my intentions, because if there is a hint of you hurting her –"

"I'm not necessarily a firebender, but I need to see firebending up close,"Jynia said over Shua. "And we're here to ask if you could help me."

The firebender brushed off his clothes as he thought. "Well, the thing is –" he stopped mid-sentence upon seeing Shua's face. "I mean, I guess. I could probably show you some things. It's just, you need a ticket, and probably a passport. I barely had enough money to buy a ticket myself."

Shua pulled out a small sac of money and held it out. "Would this be enough?"

Jynia looked at the bag in awe as Shua put it in her hand. "I – I couldn't –"

"It was the least Lumin and I could do." He pointed out the Earth Kingdom emblem on the bag and on the tassels keeping it shut. "Use it to remember us." He glared at the firebender. "She's your responsibility now; don't mess it up. Take care, Jynia."

Shua left to go back to the earthbending army while Jynia stepped towards the firebender cautiously.

"Just so you know, I'm not going to the Capital necessarily, I'm going to a village not far from it." The man explained. "I recently inherited a tea shop at a nearby village. When we get there I'll make you some."

Jynia smiled. "I'd really appreciate that. What was your name?"

"Ezoloh."

" _Wait,_ Ezoloh _? Granpa is a_ firebender _!?" The boy asked in shock._

_Jynia laughed. "Yes, he is."_

" _How – how could you not tell me?"_

" _Only a select few know. You are now sworn to the upmost secrecy."_

_Jynia's grandson bit his lips and nodded solemnly. "Go on."_

" _Your grandfather let me work for my food and lodging at his tea shop while training me in firebending when he could. I loved working there and all the respect everyone seemed to have for each other in the Fire Nation. I managed to write to my mother and update her on where I was and after nine months, I finally discovered what I left home to learn…"_

Ezoloh paced in front of the back room of his tea shop well past closing time. It was a private, spacious room with a long table and comfortable chairs. People sometimes rented it for meetings and he would provide tea and food for them. At the moment there were some generals discussing strategies inside.

"Jynia, how are the sizzlecrips coming?'

"Here they are," Jynia called, pouring them into a large bowl and setting them on a tray. It held snacks from each of the four nations, something Jynia had brought which gave the tea shop some more popularity. Of course, Ezoloh made sure the recipes were renamed to something more nationalistic. She picked up the tray and went back to where he was waiting. Ezoloh gave the agreed-upon warning knock and entered the room.

Ezoloh and Jynia bowed as low as possible without spilling anything and, keeping their faces towards the ground, placed the tea and food on a small table in the back corner so as not to see anything confidential. Jynia's eyes quickly peeked at the table the generals were sitting at and saw a large map overlaying it before her gaze returned downward.

Ezoloh placed his fist against his open palm and bowed properly. "Is there anything else we can get for you?"

"No, no that'll be all thanks." An authoritative voice said. Jynia saw the flick of a dismissive hand in her peripheral.

"Thank you," another voice inputted.

Ezoloh and Jynia made to leave when another voice stopped them. "Wait," the man went to the table and picked up a sweet bun, the recipe for which came straight from Jynia's home air temple. "These aren't from the Fire Nation. What are they?"

Ezoloh, not skipping a beat, replied. "We call them Turtle Duck rolls, since they are favorites of the animals."

"I've seen those once, they're Air Nomad treats," a woman said.

Jynia held her breath, afraid they would figure out she had come to the Fire Nation on a forged passport, but Ezoloh remained calm. "Yes, my assistant did a lot of travelling and has brought a variety of recipes to our tea shop. We have refined them, of course, for the Fire Nation palate."

It was odd being referred to as Ezoloh's assistant – a feeling which was odd in itself. A few months after meeting, Ezoloh and Jynia started to develop romantic feelings for each other and he had referred to her as his girlfriend for several months now. Many of the shop's regulars were enamored with the new couple and loved it when Jynia was promoted from employee to assistant to girlfriend. At the time it was strange having her status publically change, but now it was unusual to hear her less intimate title.

"Would you happen to have met the Avatar?"

Jynia bit the inside of her lip, thinking of her cousin. Her mother had recently written to her that Aang had earned his airbending tattoos, the youngest airbender to ever do so. But then she remembered it was a mere whisper she overheard between her mother and aunt that Aang was destined to be the Avatar – it hadn't even been confirmed to Aang himself yet. "The Avatar will not be revealed until the child has turned sixteen. Has it been sixteen years since Avatar Roku died? I thought it was only ten."

"Would you have any idea of where the Avatar would be?"

"The Avatar will be studying airbending in one of the air temples." Jynia said evasively, her tone of voice teetering towards stubborn. Ezoloh must have noticed, because he quietly slipped his hand into hers. "I hope you enjoy your tea."

"Eh, tea isn't good for battle plans. It's too calming, I can't stand it."

Jynia suddenly felt a rush of heat rising to Ezoloh's palms. "Let us know if there is anything we can do." Jynia hastily bowed properly, Ezoloh following suit, and both left the generals to their work.

"Did he seriously say he couldn't stand tea?" Ezoloh exclaimed once they had reached the kitchen. He shot a flame into the fireplace in the shop through the open door. There was a squeak as Peelo was suddenly awoken from his nap on the fireplace's hearth. "My white jasmine tea is wasted on those ungrateful –"

"I don't think he was trying to insult tea, just saying it wasn't best for strategizing." Jynia folded her arms. "But insisting about the Avatar, what do you think they want to do with him?"

"I don't know, probably see if she can access her previous life and get firebending ideas from Avatar Roku?" Ezoloh shrugged it off, but then paused and whirled on Jynia. "Wait,  _him_? I thought the Avatar was supposed to be a female airbender. Have you met the Avatar?"

"Perhaps. It hasn't been confirmed!" She hastily added when Ezoloh's face lit up with excitement. "But even if it was, I wouldn't tell the Fire Nation."

"Why not? If the Fire Nation conquest continues, the air temples could become prosperous and technologically advanced. I thought you didn't mind the colonization."

"I was attempting to be neutral about it – until it was my home!" Jynia's fists closed into balls. "The nations are supposed to live together in harmony. I thought the earthbenders were being stubborn, but now I understand. This is not how the world is meant to function!" She slammed her fist down on the countertop and heard a clatter.

"Jynia –"

"Don't interrupt me! You've never talked with the Earth Kingdom citizens when –"

"But Jynia –"

"You grew up with the Fire Nation nationalistic pride," Jynia could hear the commotion getting louder, but she didn't care. "You don't have connections to the rest of the world –"

"Jynia, look behind you!"

Jynia spun around to see what Ezoloh was so insistent she saw. The lid of the tea kettle steaming behind her had come loose. Out of it a pillar of heating water had risen and was spinning wildly, not unlike how Jynia felt. Riding at the top of it was Peelo, looking as if it were no more than an interesting stroll. Jynia hesitated, then made a waving motion with her hands. The water pillar bent over so Peelo could jump onto Ezoloh's shoulder. Jynia brought her hands together in front of her chest, then lowered them carefully. The water slipped back into the tea kettle and continued heating, not a drop missing.

Ezoloh squeezed Jynia's shoulder and pecked her on the cheek. "Congratulations," he said, a hint of pride in his voice. "You're a waterbender."

* * *

**Author's Note: This is the turning point of the story (which I mentioned in my Author's Note in the Prologue), where it switches from Jynia's quest to find her bending to the start of the Hundred Years' War. I have a soft spot for both halves of this story for different reasons, and I hope you enjoy both too!**

**Let me know what you're enjoying** **(or what you're not enjoying so I can improve),** **and leave me a review!**


	6. The Year of the Air Nomad Genocide

Jynia paced around her personal room, waiting for her wedding ceremony to start. She wished her friends could be there, but the Fire Nation was very strict about its immigration laws. She looked down at her dress as she fiddled with its skirt. She was wearing a long elegant red dress with a Water Tribe engagement necklace and bare feet to remind her of the earthbenders. She also had gotten elaborate red designs temporarily painted along the chi paths, where her airbending family had their tattoos.

Before the wedding could start, Ezoloh and the Fire Sage officiating their marriage, Fire Sage Kaja, entered the room looking slightly worried.

"An air bison arrived at the tea shop." Ezoloh said before Jynia could ask, worried he was having second thoughts. "This was attached to its horn."

Jynia grabbed the scroll he was holding out and looked at the seal.

"Fire only hardens the seal. However, it loosens when water is used." Fire Sage Kaja said. "Clearly, an air nomad only wanted a waterbender to read this."

Jynia coaxed some water out of the jug she had been drinking out of and brought it to the seal, careful not to let the water ruin any of the scroll. The seal turned to mud and she brushed it away and opened the scroll.

_Jynia,_

_Your cousin has been confirmed four years prior to his sixteenth birthday. The monks want to prepare him for the potential war with the Fire Nation, but Monk Gyasto still insists he's too young to have all this responsibility placed on him. Apparently, your cousin has not been responding well to this news._

_Now the Council of Elders are considering moving him to a different air temple to keep him focused. I'm not sure if they've made a decision on that, but either way we could really use your assistance in helping him adjust to his new position. I know you're busy, but you seemed to always have a positive effect on him and maybe you could help him in ways the rest of us can't. I have sent Ino so you can come as soon as you can._

_Please Jynia. We really could use your help._

_Mom_

Without bothering to change out of her wedding clothes, Jynia gathered some supplies for the journey and climbed on Ino, barely noticing when Ezoloh climbed on behind her, and took off as fast as Ino could go to the Southern Air Temple. The journey seemed to last for years. Ezoloh tried to distract her with his firebending, but when it came to her cousin whom she hadn't seen in two years – the now-confirmed Avatar, youngest airbending master, and air nomad most-sought by the Fire Nation– there was nothing anyone could do. Once the Southern Air Temple came in sight she waterbent some water from their jug to get rid of Ezoloh's fire distraction and leapt to the side of the saddle. She knew her mother could sense Ino coming (assuming Jynia's mother was meditating) and nearly fell out when she saw her mother coming out to meet them as the air bison landed.

"Mother!"Jynia cried out, tripping over herself to climb down from Ino. "Where's Aang?"

Jynia's mother just stared at her daughter. She hadn't changed much since Jynia left, maybe a few more wrinkles, one or two more gray hairs, but still clearly herself. "Jynia?"She asked in an awed whisper. "You look so –"

"I'm sorry, I did my best to keep my heritage."Jynia gestured to her arms. "But after living in so many places and being in the Fire Nation –"

"Beautiful." Her mother finished.

And just like that, seemingly for the first time in two years, Jynia felt inner peace. She reached out and embraced her mother and the two women felt relief in holding the other. Eventually, Jynia broke out of it to ask "How's Aang doing?"

Her mother sighed. "The Council of Elders has decided to move him to the Eastern Air Temple, hoping his mother and I can help him stay focused on becoming the Avatar before any war breaks out. Monk Gyasto is still trying to reason with them so Aang can continue Avatar training in the most free environment with his Master. Ever since they told him he was the Avatar, he's started to withdraw from a lot of his favorite activities and has expressed feeling like an outsider."

Jynia knew how that felt. The rarity and the prodigy, connected in uniqueness. "Do you know where he is?"

"In his room I assume. The Elders haven't told him their decision yet."

"Wait, Jynia!" Ezoloh handed her a bag of snacks he had packed for Aang while Jynia was filling him in on what her mother's letter said. "There's no situation some nice tea and food can't help."

"You must be Ezoloh."Jynia's mother's eyes glinted. "Please come in, we have much to talk about."

"Mother!"Jynia said in shock.

Her mother gave her a slightly mischievous smile. "Go and attend to Aang, dear. He could use your help."

Jynia groaned as if she were no more than eleven years old and hurried to where Aang's room was. When she got there, there was no Aang, just one of the monks.

"Did you already send him away?" She asked, fire behind her words. The man turned around and she immediately regretted her words. "Monk Gyatso!" She scrambled into a respectful bow. "I – I'm here to – "

"It's good to see you, Jynia." Monk Gyato said, leaning to look out the open window. "It appears as though Aang has sent himself away."

"He – he's run away?" Jynia ran to join the airbender next to the window. "But where? And – we've got to stop him!"

"This journey he takes to becoming the Avatar must be his own." Monk Gyatso said with a voice of one who had already forced the idea out of his own brain. "Besides, I doubt there's much we can do in the storm that's brewing." He added, gesturing to the dark clouds on the horizon.

"But – we need to find him! He's only a master airbender! He can't survive a storm like that!"

"Yes, and one master airbender plus a half-trained waterbender can?" Monk Gyatso said with an amused arch to his eyebrow.

Jynia did her best to not glare at the monk, not understanding why he wasn't using his airbending to follow Aang at this moment. She considered if she could waterbend waves to ride on so she could search for her cousin. It was a technique she had tried once in a river, but could she do it long distance in a storm? She was weighing her options when Monk Gyatso spoke again.

"Jynia, why are you dressed so nicely?"

Jynia looked down at her wedding dress and suddenly felt the back of her neck heat up. "Well, um – it's my wedding day. I postponed the wedding the moment I saw Mother's letter concerning Aang."

"I see." He started leaving the room and airbent the air around Jynia to have her follow him. "Then we must act quickly. We don't know how far Aang might have gone by now, but he's probably in the direction of the Southern Water Tribe."

"Wait, we are going to look for him now?" Jynia said as she hurried to keep up.

"We cannot force him to return to training, but we can at least get him to safety. Besides,"  
Monk Gyatso smiled back at her. "If you're willing to postpone your wedding for his well-being, then between the two of us, we have the best chance of finding him and helping him calm down."

Riding on Monk Gyato's air bison, they were able to use their combined bending powers to carve a path through the storm to fly in. When the storm reached a calm point Jynia would waterbend the rain to fall around them while Monk Gyatso used meditation to try to find Aang's location. Jynia did her best to keep her bending strong when after each meditation Monk Gyatso was more desperate. Just as Monk Gyatso redirected the air bison and joined Jynia in parting the clouds, saying they were close to Aang, Jynia saw something blue glowing underwater. Without hesitating, she ran to the side of the air bison's saddle, paused a moment to calculate the distance, and dove towards the sea.

This was probably a very dumb thing to do, but seeing as Jynia was now hurtling towards deadly waves there was no time to second-guess herself now. At the summon of her right hand, a stable wave rose to meet her and submerge her in the sea. She propelled herself towards the source of the blue light until she saw a young boy and an air bison unconscious in a large air pocket covered in a thin layer of ice under the water. Aang was in the center of the air pocket in a position of meditation, his airbending tattoos glowing.

Seeing the calm on his face, Jynia knew she couldn't force him to the surface. Maybe he needed this to be ready to complete his training. Or maybe the world needed their Avatar safely hidden for the time being.

_Alright, prodigy. You win._  Jynia thought to herself and she froze more water around Aang, turning it into a small glacier.  _I'll miss you. Come back to us soon._

She returned to the surface and used her waterbending to fall next to Monk Gyatso. "I found Aang, but he's in no state to return right now." She sputtered. "He and Appa are in an air pocket of ice, and Aang's tattoos are glowing. I thickened the ice to keep them safe for now."

Monk Gyatso froze, and in the brief moment his airbending ceased and the clouds returned, soaking the two worse than they already were. "Ahh!"

"Sorry, sorry." He directed the air bison above the clouds. Jynia had never seen one of the monks this distraught before, and instantly feared she had done the wrong thing. "The Avatar State, it probably kept him from drowning. I knew he would come into it at some point, but now –" He sighed, clearly as confused as Jynia about what to do in this situation. "There is nothing more we can do to help him now. Let's return to the air temple."

When they returned, Jynia found her mother and Ezoloh chatting over tea.

"Jynia! Did you see you brought a stowaway?" Her mother pointed to where Peelo was passed out on a pillow, his stomach very large from eating most of the snacks Ezoloh had packed.

Though this normally would have made Jynia smile, she was so exhausted that all she could do was collapse in one of the chairs. Ezoloh sat down next to her and handed her a cup of tea. "How's your cousin?"

_He's just having the time of his life at the bottom of the sea_. "He's run away." She heard her mother gasp. "Monk Gyatso and I went out to try and retrieve him, but we were unsuccessful."

Ezoloh kissed Jynia's cheek. "First you abandon your wedding to help your cousin, then you get your wedding dress soaked trying to find him." Jynia was about to apologize, when he finished his statement. "What did I ever do to deserve a gem like you?"


	7. The End of the Peace

" _That still doesn't answer my question, Granma." The boy brought Jynia out of her reminisces. "Why are you in Omashu if you and Granpa lived in the Fire Nation?"_

" _Right, sorry." Jynia shoved her missing cousin out of her mind. She hadn't even told Ezoloh that she knew where Aang was, so she chose her words carefully. "Before your grandfather and I got married, we visited the Southern Air Temple after the Avatar disappeared to help look for him."_

" _Did you find him?"_

" _What do you think?" Jynia half-smiled as her grandson figured out his own question. "Since we were already travelling, your grandfather and I took it as kind of our honeymoon. We got to travel to the Southern Water Tribe to see my friends there and I got to perfect my waterbending skills, learn healing, and even become a Waterbending Master. Then we went to the Eastern Air Temple to spend some more time with my mother –"_

"There, that should do the trick." Jynia said as she removed the water she had used to heal the ankle of one of her mother's wards.

"Wow, thanks!" The girl spun her ankle around. "That's really cool that you can do that."

"Well, just be careful when you play airball." Jynia picked up the bowl that had been filled with water as the girl ran off to rejoin her friends.

She was just about to put the bowl away when Peelo scrambled up her back. "Oof! What is it?" A moment later a large bird flew past her head to where Ezoloh was experimenting with teas on a nearby table. "Oh my goodness, Peelo, it's just a messenger hawk. You  _live_  with one."

"Not that he ever gets along with it." Ezoloh said as he retrieved the letter from the canister on the hawk's back and stroked its head. Upon seeing another creature receive affection, Peelo flew from Jynia's back to sit on Ezoloh's shoulder, hissing at the hawk. The messenger hawk, having done its job, flew away without reacting to Peelo. Peelo gave an affectionate whir, quite proud of himself, and settled across his human's shoulders while Ezoloh began to read the letter. Jynia was returning to what she was doing when she heard a clatter behind her.

"We need to get out of here, now. Where's your mother?" Peelo squeaked and clung to Ezoloh's neck as the firebender rushed off, looking for his bags.

"What? What is it?" Jynia grabbed the letter, which she noticed was slightly burned on the edges from where Ezoloh's hands held it. That couldn't be good. She tried to read it, but couldn't make out a word of the poor handwriting. "Um, did the hawk write this?"

"It's from my brother."

"The one we left in charge of the tea shop?"

"The generals cancelled their usual private meeting tomorrow, and after my brother told them we were on our honeymoon to the Air Temples they secretly told him we may want to leave before too long, because they're going to search for the Avatar soon."

It was a good thing only a handful of people knew Jynia and Ezoloh had postponed their wedding, saying this trip was their honeymoon was a good cover. "They'll have a time finding him, if even Monk Gyatso and I –"

"Don't you know what's tomorrow?" Ezoloh didn't wait for Jynia to shake her head. "The Great Comet will be close enough to the atmosphere for firebenders to harness its power, my grandfather told me stories about when it came a hundred years ago. If the Fire Nation is planning to use the Great Comet to find the Avatar, this will not end well."

Jynia helped calm his panic with a grab of his hand. "Alright, let's go."

They found her mother meditating with the Council of Elders. In a hurry they explained the situation, Jynia trying to keep Ezoloh from tripping over his own sentences, and thankfully the Elders understood and acted quickly, first delegating Jynia and her aunt to warn the Southern Air Temple (and some other nuns to try to warn the other temples) while Ezoloh was to begin evacuating some of the children to the Earth Kingdom.

"Meet you back at the tea shop." Ezoloh said before leaning down and kissing Jynia on the lips – stopping every thought in Jynia's mind.

She wanted the kiss to last longer. She wanted to linger by his side. She wanted to return the kiss again and again, knowing this might be the last time they saw each other. But they instantly broke apart; the air nomad's safety was more urgent.

"Wait," her mother stopped them before Jynia could go off with her aunt. "Ezoloh, do you promise to take my daughter and love her through war and peace and support her in anything she feels she must do?"

Ezoloh looked at Jynia with longing. "Always."

"Jynia, darling, do you promise to strengthen this man, give him the help he needs, and love him no matter what happens of the four nations?"

Jynia looked at her mother in confusion. "Of course."

"Then the Council of Elders declares you husband and wife. Now you may go save the world."

The sun was setting as Jynia and her aunt flew on Arni's air bison to the Southern Air Temple. Jynia sprinted to keep up with Arni's airbending-enhanced speed and ended up falling over when she had to skid to a stop once her aunt had located one of the monks.

"– and now they're on their way. They plan to use the strength they can pull from the Great Comet to successfully find him." Arni was saying, helping Jynia too her feet with her airbending. As she finished, the orangey light around them from the sun's setting turned to red, making Jynia's heart skip a few beats.

"Then we don't have much time." The monk said. With a start, Jynia realized it was Monk Gyato who got to see her fall. "Jynia, how many people could you transport with your waterbending?"

"Um, maybe six?" She had never used her bending on this scale before.

"Then take the first five children you can find to the Earth Kingdom, and protect them from the Fire Nation soldiers. The rest of us will stay and fight them off."

Jynia took off towards Aang's room, hoping to save some of his friends, and found six boys playing a game in the first occupied room she found. "Monk Gyatso sent me to collect you all. Come with me."

She led them away using as many backways as possible, keeping her demeanor calm in hopes they wouldn't need to know of the attack. However, the Fire Nation soldier fighting Monk Tashi forced the group to stop in their tracks. Upon seeing them, Monk Tashi used a gust of wind to send them further along the hallway to safety. Jynia used the water from one of the three canteens she had packed to drag the boys along by their wrists to keep them from going back.

"What was –"

"The Fire Nation's attacking to find the Avatar." Jynia explained quickly. "We're going to the hidden cellar to escape on one of the boats down there." Jynia's mother had shown her the hidden exits in all the Air Temples years ago since Jynia couldn't rely on bending to travel. "Oh no you  _don't_!" She screamed as she passed a young tattooed airbender trying to defend some others from two soldiers. With a giant wave from her canteen she flushed the soldiers down the hall. They returned with a giant fire blast, which she barely managed to block by maintaining a water shield. "Go, go!" She screamed at the airbenders, who quickly joined the rest of her group.

These firebenders were stronger than Jynia could have imagined. Even now they were able to evaporate her shield even with her adding more water to it. She couldn't waste water like this. She let the shield fall to the ground around the solders' feet and froze it. Just when they thought they had the advantage, she created a water whip which, combined with the ice, made them lose balance and fall like a couple of barrels.

She took off, heading up the back of her group with the young airbending master running beside her. As the soldiers counter-attacked he, waiting for just the right moment, sent an air gust which collided with their fire blast, sending the soldiers flying back and the air nomads flying further down the hall.

"Not bad," Jynia breathed once they crashed. "Come on, once we get to the tunnels they can't follow us."

Continuing to any soldiers at bay and collect any young airbenders they came along, Jynia had a group of about fifteen airbenders to get to the Earth Kingdom, but all of them were wearing out fighting the best of the Fire Nation who now had unfairly strengthened abilities. Finally, they reached the entrance to the cellar. Jynia pulled on the secret latch and ushered them all inside, doing a head count before she shut the door. "And that's – we're missing one." Just as she spoke, the last airbender, the young master, dove in with his one arm covered in burns.

"Man down, man down," he wheezed.

"I'll take care of that arm in a minute. Great, now they know where the cellar is." Jynia could hear the soldiers on the other side trying to burn the door down. "You all get to the boats, I'll hold them off and be right behind you." Without waiting for them to argue, she used the last of the water from her second canteen to send them most of the way down the stairs.

In a small crack she sent out a fountain of water to quench the fire in the corridor before entering it herself. Even drenched, the corridor was still incredibly hot from the firebenders' heightened power. There were at least five soldiers in front of her, all able to take her down based on their physic alone. Apologizing to her pacifist upbringing, she used the last of the water, leaving enough to heal the airbender's arm, to form bubbles of water around each of the soldiers' heads. They gaped at her, no longer being able to breathe, which Ezoloh taught her was the source of a firebender's fire. Concentrating on using all of her strength, she lifted them up by their heads and threw them out the open window at the end of the hall before diving into the cellar again and completely shutting the door.

After descending the many stairs to the bottom of the mountains, splitting up into boats of five to six, and taking some time for everyone to rest while Jynia did what she could to heal their burns with the water she had left, the small band of air nomads set off towards the Earth Kingdom. The most experienced airbenders used their ability to blow them away from the shore into the sea on waves Jynia directed to go as fast as possible, away from the destruction they had barely escaped.

* * *

"Open this door. By order of Fire Lord Sozin let us in."

Ezoloh and Jynia woke with a moan and Ezoloh hurriedly put on his work clothes before answering the door. It was five days after the Fire Nation attack on the Air Temples and the two had finally made it back to the tea shop last night to enjoy their first night together, now that they had been married by her mother.

"May I help you? The shop is still closed; my wife and I just returned from our honeymoon."

"We have been ordered to search the house."

Upon hearing this Jynia crawled out of bed, dragging one of the blankets off with her, and went to the door with it wrapped around her like a trailing dress. "What is this about?"

"We're just searching for any illegal immigrants, nothing to worry about." The one who seemed to be in charge guided them outside so the soldiers could search the house. "Congratulations, by the way."

 _If it's nothing to worry about then why was it ordered by the Fire Lord?_ "This is because we honeymooned in the Air Temples, isn't it?" Jynia asked with resentment behind her voice.

"We weren't in the Air Temples for long, certainly not long enough for a stowaway. We were exploring all of the four nations looking for new recipes to try at the shop." Ezoloh explained. "But by all means, search for any illegal airbenders, we won't stop you."

"You can search the four nations stone by stone, but you won't find the Avatar." Jynia growled under her breath, fed up with the people who left  _her_  people in desolation.

" _Jynia!_ " Ezoloh hissed before reassuming the respectable citizen's demeanor. "You really need your tea to wake up, you're still half-asleep." This seemed to satisfy the soldiers and they ignored Jynia's comment.

"Why is the Fire Nation like this?" She whispered to Ezoloh in frustration.

"This is just how it works." Ezoloh stood tense, clearly uncomfortable with the dishonorable situation. "If our superior tells us to do something, it's assumed to be what's best. Rebelling against an authority would be incredibly disrespectful and dishonorable; it's not something we consider here."

As they waited outside their home, the streets started to have a few people walking them, which put the couple even more on edge.

"You finally getting in trouble, Ezoloh?" One of their friends joked as he passed by. Ezoloh's eyes bulged and Jynia had to swallow her anger to laugh it off.

"We'll see when they're done."

Ezoloh started to forcibly control his breathing to keep from panicking. Jynia knew he had never stood out like this before, he had never appeared to be anything but a perfect citizen. Soon it seemed to finally be over and they were allowed back inside after the soldiers didn't find anything.

"Thank you, stop by the shop any time we're open,"Jynia said, doing her best to replicate Ezoloh's usually calm disposition. "Turtle duck rolls on the house."  _As if you deserve our – focus Jynia, calm._

Just as the soldiers were leaving the front steps, another friend of Ezoloh and Jynia's passed by with some of his visiting relatives. "Don't worry," he joked upon seeing the soldiers. "They're not airbenders."

Ezoloh hit his head against the wall.


	8. Epilogue

Jynia's grandson didn't speak for a while after Jynia finished her story; instead, he solemnly nibbled on his cabbage cookie. She probably shouldn't have told him the details of the battle, even if she didn't see anyone die every one of them was killed, including the young boys she smuggled into the Earth Kingdom. Every airbender had been found by Sozin and destroyed. Her grandson was just a child, he wasn't ready to hear about a genocide, especially after finding out he was directly descended from them.

"So… you're  _not_  a Fire Nation spy."

Jynia laughed a little. "No I'm not. Can you trust me now?"

"Was the Avatar killed with the rest of the airbenders?"

"No," Jynia said proudly. "Fire Lord Sozin died without ever finding Aang. Once the Avatar reappears we can finally end this war."

"Why're you live in Omashu if you've lived everywhere?"

"It was actually your grandfather's idea." Jynia said as she started putting away the cabbages. "After the Great Comet, he couldn't look at his neighbors the same way again. You must understand, the Fire Nation trains its citizens to accept authority, so seeing the horrible things the Fire Nation celebrated threw his whole life into doubt. After two weeks, he finally told me he couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to take me away from the nation that destroyed my race."

Jynia shuddered remembering the conflicted resolve on his face when he told her. She had buried her feelings, hiding them in a cave of ice to resume the duties at the teashop, but Ezoloh, he lost sleep, winced when he looked anyone but Jynia in the eye, and only firebent out of necessity. "My friend from the Earth Kingdom, Mipha, was killed on the battlefront, and she left me her home in Omashu. As soon as we got the letter about it Ezoloh and I took the opportunity to move out of the Fire Nation and have been living here ever since."

"But, if nobody knows Granpa's a firebender, how come everyone knows you're a waterbender?"

"Quite a few citizens remembered me from my time living in Omashu, so I couldn't pretend to be from the Earth Kingdom. Instead, we implied that Ezoloh was a nonbender from one of the Earth Kingdom cities. Besides, by letting people know I'm a waterbender, I could work as a Healer here."

"Does Granpa never firebend nomore?"

"Occasionally, when we're alone and he wants to heat up some tea or something, but he doesn't find need to do much more than that so it's easy to keep it a secret." Jynia leaned back on the counter to face her grandson. "Any more questions?"

Her grandson thought a moment, then looked back at her. "Do you think the Avatar will come back?"

Jynia hesitated. She knew she was the only one who knew where Aang was encased in ice. Multiple times she had considered going to free him, or just going to make sure he was still alive. Then she had to remind herself to trust the Avatar State. She didn't know much about the Spirit World, but she did know it created a special connection between Aang and all the previous Avatars, they would make sure he fulfilled his duty at the right time. Besides, this way he stayed safe from the Fire Nation for the time being.

"Yes, I do. I don't know when, or how, but I do know he'll return."

* * *

_**~~MANY YEARS LATER~~** _

Jynia knew at this point, she couldn't count on living another day. But that didn't stop her from storming into King Bumi's throne room a few days after her grandson, now a grown man with his own family, visited.

"Bumi! How dare you not tell me Aang was in Omashu!" She sent in a water whip to smack him upside the head. "The vanished Avatar, my only living relative, the last of my race was here  _and you didn't tell me?"_  Her voice screeched. Bumi simply sat and stared at her. His guards were used to the two old-timers arguing and didn't bother interfering.

"My grandson comes for a visit and tells me his business got destroyed three times in the same day, and one of them was by you, _with the Avatar_! I would recognize his description anywhere!" She sent a wave crashing down on him. His soldiers were thrown back but Bumi continued sitting on his throne.

"You know I'm only alive because I want to see him again. I'm not an earthbender, I can't be too stubborn to die like you!"

Bumi laughed his iconic mad giggle. "That's right. You may have the abilities of a waterbender and the heart of a firebender, but you still have the soul and lifespan of an airbender. It's the earbending mind you have that's keeping you going."

"I'm still stronger than you," Jynia retorted, transferring some of her anger onto Bumi. Getting a few more hits in might pacify her for not being told Aang was alive. Time had leathered her skin and shrunken her bones, but her face was still full of life. Since everyone knew she could probably count her remaining days on one hand, she was allowed to do and say anything she wanted, which was often very dumb or very wise.

"Oh, did you want to fight? I can always throw a boulder on you too."

" _You threw a boulder on my cousin_?"

"He was being an idiot and only using airbending techniques. It was really boring."

The main guard, an intelligent man whose face reminded Jynia of Shua, came up to Jynia and bowed respectfully. "Madam, if it's any consolation, King Bumi never tells us what he's planning." This made Bumi nod and laugh harder.

"I don't know what you're so upset about; he's got a job to do." King Bumi said. "Besides, it's not like you'll never see him again. I mean, you probably won't in this world, but you can probably try again in another world. Probably."

Jynia dropped her fighting stance. "Bumi, I hate you."

"Eh, what's that? A stalemate?" Bumi said, pretending to mishear her. "I agree, I'm much too tired after the Avatar's visit. Show her to the guest room, the one that's near to my chambers. She looks like she needs to relax."

Jynia had used up all of her strength in her anger at Bumi, and at this point there was no way she would get home on her own, so she didn't bother resisting the guard who kindly guided her to one of the nicest rooms in Omashu. She was easing herself onto one of the couches when King Bumi stood at the door.

"By the way," he said, his voice more gentle than Jynia had ever heard it in all her years knowing him. "Aang remembered to ask his little Water Tribe friend to go penguin sledding. He told me sliding down the mail system was almost as fun as when you took him penguin sledding all those years ago."

Jynia smiled. "Thanks Bumi." She closed her eyes, and finally rested.

 

**Author's Note: And here ends my Avatar: The Last Airbender story! Thank you so much for reading. I had a blast writing this and I really hope you enjoyed it. Who knows, maybe I'll write another one if enough people enjoyed this (and if I get another plunny) :) Please let me know your thoughts on any part of the story, characters, or treatment of the universe and leave a review!**


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